99-05 5 Jul 99 Alert Madera County Linda FincoSgt. John Diederich called around 0710 on 5 July 1999. Sgt.
Diederich was notified around 0600 that Kern County had received
a fax from the Office of Emergency Services (OES) at 0300 requesting
four trackers to support a search in Madera County near Bass Lake.
However, since dispatch was monitoring the phones and not the
fax machine, the fax was not noticed until around 0600.
Sgt. Diederich stated that the search was for a white male missing
since Saturday at around the 8000-foot level. The fax stated that
trackers were wanted at the search base at 0700. Mr. Guerin, the
OES representative, stated that he believed our assistance would
still be required even if we showed up in the afternoon. Mr. Guerin
told me to call Darren McMechan at the Bass Lake Substation to
confirm that our assistance was still needed.
I contacted Mary Schmierer to coordinate. Mary was getting ready
to head out of town, so she started the callout but turned the
coordination over to Janet Westbrook. Karen Botham assisted with
the callout.
I contacted the Bass Lake substation, but Mr. McMechan was unavailable.
(He was on his way to the trailhead.) I was asked how many dogs
we were bringing, and I told the substation we were trackers.
Sgt. Diederich called me back to find out the status because the
Southern Kern County team also had four trackers committed for
the search. Sgt. Diederich wanted to call to find out what resources
were really needed, so I gave him the Bass Lake substation phone
number. He called back saying it appeared that Madera County wanted
only search dogs for the day. But he and I agreed to keep our
team on standby just in case we might be needed the next day.
There was also a possible search in Kern County. I agreed to be
on standby for that, also.
At 1315, I received a call from Sgt. Diederich. The subject in
Madera County had been found, and the subject in Kern County had
walked out.
Participants: Linda Finco (Leader), Al Green, Bob Rockwell, Eric
Toler. Coordinators: Janet Westbrook, Sheila Rockwell. Telephoners:
Mary Schmierer, Karen Botham.

99-06 2-5 Aug 99 Search Randsburg Linda FincoTom Sakai paged the group at 2215 on the evening of Monday,
2 August 1999. Tom needed an operation leader for a search in
Randsburg. I accepted the operation. The search was for 12-year-old
Patrick Brown. Patrick had been staying with his uncle in Randsburg
for the last four weeks. The uncle, Mickey Gooden, last saw Patrick
around 1100 on Monday. When Patrick had not returned by 1800 for
dinner, the uncle and some neighbors started looking for him.
At 2100, the sheriff was notified of the missing boy.
CLMRG met at the hut at 2300 to start the operation. We met Deputy
Sheriff Lindy Tebo at 2400 at the uncles residence in Randsburg.
Sgt. Craig Porter arrived shortly thereafter, and we were given
information on the boy. Patrick was described as 54 and 170 pounds,
with blue eyes and short blond hair. He was last seen wearing
a green T-shirt and baggy blue jeans. He was carrying his black
backpack with white lettering (names of rock bands), and he had
a black German style motorcycle helmet. Patrick was last seen
on his mini-bike heading northeast along the Randsburg Road. Patrick
had left his canteen at home. The uncle thought this was unusual
because Patrick was usually so careful about bringing water with
him when he went out on his mini-bike. The uncle stated that Patrick
enjoyed collecting bottles and other artifacts that could be found
in junkyards and around mines. Patricks mini-bike was black, and
the uncle thought that the bike would have at most a 20-mile range
with a full tank of gas. The uncle gave us some suggestions on
high probability search areas. Patrick enjoyed exploring the mines
between Randsburg and Johannesburg just east of the residence.
He had also recently mentioned an interest in exploring some campgrounds
just west of Randsburg near BLM roads R110 and R44.
We had five two-man teams from CLMRG and four two-man teams from
Indian Wells Valley Search and Rescue (IWVSAR). By 0100, we had
base camp set up and team assignments. Teams were fielded along
all the major roads and throughout the various dirt roads. Our
boundaries were Garlock Road to the north and Highway 395 to the
east. Boundaries to the west and south were more difficult to
establish. We used the intersection of Garlock Road and the Redrock-Randsburg
Road and BLM road R43 to the west as one boundary. There were
no continuous boundaries to the south, but we concentrated on
BLM roads as far south as R83 to Government Peak.
Our search teams and locals searched through the night. Nothing
was found. Kern County teams from Tehachapi and Desert began arriving
between 0700 and 0800. With these additional search teams, we
had a total of 52 searchers. The search areas expanded to include
areas contained by Goler, Garlock, and the Redrock-Randsburg Road.
The search area also expanded as far south as Atolia and included
roads and mines. It was felt we had pretty well contained Patrick
to the west of Highway 395, although we did search major attractors
(large mines) on the east side of the highway.
A Kern County Sheriffs helicopter arrived around 0745 to assist
in the search. Sgt. John Diederich took over as the incident commander.
The only clues being found were tire tracks from Patricks mini-bike.
The problem was that the tracks were all over the area and in
some places went in and out of the search area. By 1730, the sheriff
released the searchers who had been involved from the previous
night. Members from the Desert team stayed longer to close out
a containment area north of Randsburg and to the east of Highway
395. The sheriff requested that we be available at 0700 the next
morning to continue the search. At the conclusion of the search
effort on Tuesday, no positive clues had been found on Patricks
whereabouts.
Wednesday morning, Kern County teams from CLMRG, IWVSAR, Desert,
and Tehachapi and the Mounted Team arrived at base camp. In searching
the residence the previous night, it was determined that Patrick
was not wearing a green T-shirt. It appeared that he must have
gone back inside after his uncle saw him that morning and changed
shirts. It appeared he was now wearing either a cream colored
skateboard shirt or a black shirt with skull and crossbones. Both
shirts were missing. Patricks black backpack was also found in
the residence. This led to the possibility that Patrick was not
planning on going to any areas to collect artifacts. This new
information did not change the search strategy much for the day.
Our plan was to concentrate in the areas where the mini-bike tracks
were found. The search concentrated on the bike tracks found in
the Fiddler Gulch area northwest of the residence and on the tracks
found to the south near the leach fields of the Yellow Aster Mine.
The sheriffs helicopter also flew the search area on Wednesday.
BLM rangers assisted in the search, and Kern County sheriff deputies
walked door to door interviewing people. We also began to concentrate
on the numerous mines in the area. Teams were requested to flag
all mines that had been searched. This area has hundreds of mines,
some a few feet deep, others too deep to see the bottom. The mines
were searched for evidence of Patricks bike tracks or footprints.
A few mines had suspicious activity around the vertical shaft
openings (tire tracks or other tracks), but it was not possible
to see down into the shafts. IWVSAR used their optical camera
to search into these mines to verify that Patrick had not fallen
in. The search was called at 2000 for the day. Again, no positive
clues had been found on Patricks whereabouts.

Tom Roseman took over as operations leader on Thursday, 5 August.
Teams from IWVSAR, Mounted, and Desert joined us at base camp
at 0800 that morning. In addition, BLM provided a contingent of
searchers who worked a well known and attractive hazard south
of Red Mountain. BLM had also participated the day before, and
among their team members was the ranger assigned to the area.
An employee of the local water district reported some tracks going
under the railroad tracks near Garlock Road, and he led a CLMRG
team to those tracks. This team spent most of the day working
that area. Desert teams worked east of Highway 395 and followed
several motorcycle tracks for most of the day. Two CLMRG teams
worked with a Mounted team east of the house following the tracks
found the day before. Another CLMRG team worked in support of
the IWVSAR camera team searching deep mines marked from the day
before. Other Mounted teams worked around the leach fields and
just east of the house. Toward the end of the day, a thorough
rework of the areas near the house was conducted. Around 1700,
a black T-shirt matching one of Patricks was found just east of
the house in Fiddler Gulch, an area that had been searched several
times before. Based on the condition and location of the shirt,
the feeling was that the shirt had not been in that location the
day before. An intense search was conducted in the area of the
shirt. Throughout the whole search, local residents came by offering
to help and providing information. With no new clues and at a
loss for where to expand the search, the effort was called off
that evening.
During the four days of the search, 26 members of CLMRG participated:
Tom Roseman, Tom Sakai, Mike Myers, Linda Finco, Werner Hueber,
Andrew Mitchell, Steve Florian, Janet Westbrook, Mary Schmierer,
Terry Mitchell, Sheila Rockwell, Daryl Hinman, Debbie Breitenstein,
Dennis Burge, Al Green, Mike Renta, Eric Toler, Cindy Goettig,
Chuck Creusere, Dianne Rindt, Elaine Riendeau, Barry Niesen, Paul
DeRuiter, Ellen Schafhauser, John OConner, and Bud Gates.
EPILOG: Patricks body was found on Sunday, 8 August approximately
four miles west of the general search area on BLM road R44 near
the intersection of R65. Members of a local 4-wheel drive club,
the Gear Grinders, found Patricks body in rugged terrain. The
local club volunteered to assist the uncle on Sunday to continue
searching for Patrick. Kern County search teams returned on Monday,
9 August to try to backtrack to Patricks mini-bike. Details of
that effort can be found in operation report 99-07.
COMMENTS:
1. A lesson learned for all future operations is not to underestimate
the curiosity of youth. The uncle kept emphasizing how responsible
and cautious Patrick was when he was out riding his mini- bike.
Some search areas were determined to be too rugged for a 12- year-old
on a mini-bike. However, it does appear that Patrick covered some
very rugged terrain until he was unable to continue.
2. The infamous jeep worked well as a radio relay platform during
the operation.
3. Base was well organized, but it was too out in the open, which
tended to allow people to congregate and sometimes cause too much
confusion. Also part of the problem was that the base camp area
was really the only area that provided shade until the Desert
team set up another shade canopy. These are little logistics that
need to be considered and can make a big difference in how smoothly
things operate in base.

Going to the mountains is going home.

John Muir

99-07 9 Aug 99 Search Randsburg Andrew MitchellOn Monday, 9 August 1999 at 2015, I received a call from Sgt.
John Diederich of the Kern County Sheriff's Department. Patrick
Browns body (refer to operation 99-06) had been discovered by
4-wheelers at 1215 on BLM road R44 reportedly 1 to 1_ miles south-
southwest (actually it was northwest) of Government Peak. This
peak is west of Randsburg. CLMRG was requested to search for Patricks
mini-bike and T-shirt. We were to meet Sgt. Diederich 4.7 miles
from Randsburg on the Redrock- Randsburg Road at 0700 on 10 August.
We met at the hut at 0600, departed shortly thereafter, and met
Sgt. Diederich at 0700. We drove in on R50 for several miles and
were then briefed. Two Indian Wells Valley Search and Rescue teams
were already in the field following the bike tracks. Four CLMRG
teams were fielded while the rest of us drove farther down the
road to set up base camp. All teams were fielded by 1000.
At 1600, IWV 1 spotted the mini-bike using binoculars. Patrick
had driven the mini-bike up R45 and left it on the road. Sgt.
Diederich and IWV 1 retrieved it and returned it to base camp
at 1641. The uncle said, It was totally out of character, when
he was informed of the location of the mini-bike.
Base camp was secured at 1741 when all field teams returned to
base camp. CLMRG returned to the hut at 1900.
The use of GPS coordinates was very helpful. The maps do not have
all the roads on them. BLM maps proved to be very useful in keeping
track of the field teams and the roads they were searching.
Team members were Linda Finco, Werner Hueber, Dennis Burge, Debbie
Breitenstein, Ellen Schafhauser, Barry Niesen, Curtis Davis, Elaine
Riendeau, Terry Mitchell, Sheila Rockwell, and Andrew Mitchell
(Leader).

99-08 6 Sep 99 Alert (OES #: 99-OES-0410) Mt. Whitney Tom SakaiSgt. John Diederich of Kern County Sheriff's Department (KCSD)
called at 1414 on Monday,
6 September 1999 to relay a request from Inyo County Sheriffs
Department (ICSD) via the Office of Emergency Services (OES) for
ground search teams. Deputy Keith Hardcastle (of ICSD) had requested
our help in searching for a 56-year-old white male last seen on
Saturday, 4 September near his camp at Consultation Lake on the
trail to Mt. Whitney. I called Deputy Hardcastle for details.
He was requesting us to report to the Lone Pine Airport at 0700
on Tuesday, 7 September for air transport by Lemoore helicopter
to Consultation Lake. I was to leave on vacation Tuesday afternoon,
so I put out a page asking for a leader. Andrew Mitchell said
he would take it and started a call out with Mary Schmierer as
coordinator and Karen Botham as telephoner. At 1457, Sgt. Diederich
called me again saying that Bob Gerber of OES had rescinded the
request for our services, presumably because of a call from Deputy
Hardcastle. The reason given was that Inyo had strong reason to
suspect that the subject had drowned in Consultation Lake, and
the effort was going to be concentrated on searching the lake
with high-altitude-capable divers.
I called Mitch to terminate the callout. Al Green and Bob Huey
committed before the callout was terminated.
The subject was on a solo trip to climb Mt. Whitney. Other campers
in the area noticed his absence and reported it to ICSD on Monday.
His wilderness permit indicated that he should have already come
out. A search of his tent revealed some medicines for high blood
pressure and kidney problems, backpack, walking stick, food, etc.
His sleeping bag, however, was found in or near the lake.
ADDENDUM: The body of the subject was located on Tuesday, 7 September
off the trail at about 12,000 feet by the Mono County team. I
dont know why or when they abandoned the lake search or why they
didnt call us again.

99-09 16 Sep 99 Incident Mt. Whitney Bob RockwellOn Thursday, 16 September 1999, Loren Castro and I climbed
Mt. Whitney by the Trail. We made average speed on the ascent
and left the summit at 1600.
On the descent, we stayed pretty much together until Trail Crest,
where I told Loren that I would go at my own rate and wait for
him at Trail Camp. But when I got there, Loren was way behind,
and I finally saw him through some binoculars I borrowed.
He was moving very slowly, and since he had mentioned his going-
downhill knee problem, I decided to hike back up and lend him
my ski poles. When I got to Loren, he was hunched over sideways
and shuffling along. He said his back hurt a lot, but did not
remember injuring it. I gave him the poles, my emergency bivvy
sack, and windpants. It was clear that it would take him many
extra hours to get down.
I would go ahead and wait at the car. I did not see a need for
us to stay together, and I was anxious to get to the car and my
cell phone to tell Sheila that I would not be home that night.
I was sure that I would see him well after midnight at best.
At midnight, two guys woke me up, saying they had a message from
Loren. They had passed him above tree line (about 11,000 feet).
His back was really hurting him, and he would probably stop for
the night soon. Besides, his headlamp was beginning to dim.
At 0400, I went to PJs in Lone Pine for breakfast and got four
sandwiches for Loren from the Mini Mart. I figured that at worst
(actually, this seemed pretty likely!), I would find Loren unable
to walk and needing a helicopter ride.
So to save time, I asked Sheila to find a leader who would be
available if a callout was needed later. She got Tom Roseman,
and we made telephone contact about 0500. Tom would leave Ridgecrest
immediately, bringing a cell phone and radios, and start up the
Trail. (As it turned out, he also got Bob Huey to go along.) When
I got to Loren, I could call Tom and remain with Loren if necessary
while Tom got the proper response going.
At 0550, I was on the Trail, and in only 20 minutes or so, there
was Loren! Hunched over as before but shuffling along. As it turned
out, he had hiked all night, stopping every 10 minutes for a 5-minute
rest. The ski poles had helped a lot. He had got to the intersection
with the old hikers trail at 0400 and stopped for 2 hours then
started going again just a few minutes before we met.
Around 0630, I called Tom and Bob, and they turned around at Pearsonville.
Loren and I were home about 0900.

Editor: Here are some observations from the subject (me).
It was indeed a 12-hour walk from the summit to the top of the
old trail. Bob's ski poles were invaluable because my automatic
balancing system was inoperative. I don't know what was wrong
with my back. I'd never experienced anything like it, and I had
been on a 50-mile, week- long backpack with my nephew and his
boy scouts about 6 weeks earlier. The 2-hour stop at the top of
the old trail wasn't boring. Lightning across the valley gave
me a good light show, and an huge number of day trippers passed
by on early starts to the summit. After we got home Friday morning,
I took a couple of aspirins and felt better. I took two naps that
day and slept well that night. Then I went square dancing for
three hours the next evening without discomfort. My most vivid
impression of this trip was the realization of how fortunate I
am to be associated with this group of mountain rescuers.

99-11 17 Oct 99 Search (OES #: 99-OES-0478) Beaumont Tom
SakaiOn Wednesday, 13 October 1999 at 1550, Sgt. John Diederich
called to relay a request for assistance from Riverside Mountain
Rescue Unit (RMRU) on a search for a missing deer hunter in the
hills south of Beaumont on or near privately owned property. He
had tried to call Mike Myers, but Mike was in a meeting and could
not be reached quickly. I was next on the sergeants list.
I tried all the coordinators, but could only get answering machines.
After about 15 minutes, Carol Burge called back to take the coordinator
job. While I made a few calls to get details from the operation
command post, Carol started the callout with help from Karen Botham.
Four others, Mike Myers, Linda Finco, Steve Florian, and Eric
Toler, committed to go at a time to be determined.
Riverside wanted us at the search base as quickly as possible
because they intended to search through the night. I said we could
be there to start searching about midnight, which was okay with
them. I called Carol back to have her tell the others to meet
at 1900. After overcoming a few glitches, the five of us left
at 2000. We arrived at the command post at 2300 and were briefed
and given an assignment.
The missing hunter, Mark Vasquez (31), had gone out hunting around
0430 Monday, 11 October wearing camouflage clothing and was expected
to be back by noon. He is an experienced hunter in good physical
condition (510 and 205 pounds) but had little in the way of survival
gear (food, water, coat, etc.). When he didnt return, his family
and friends went to look for him. They found his truck and virtually
destroyed any tracking signs in the area around it. After an unsuccessful
search, they reported Marks absence to the Sheriffs Department
sometime late Monday evening. RMRU searched Tuesday to no avail
and initiated a request for help through the Office of Emergency
Services (OES) Wednesday morning.
Our initial assignment was to divide into two teams (Myers-Florian
and Sakai-Finco-Toler) and drive to Mark's truck on the ridge
above the command post, a 30-minute drive, hike about a kilometer
north to the top of some steep drainages, and search downhill
through two gullies that started near each other to the flatlands
below, where the command post was situated.
We started our assignment at 0030 on Thursday, 14 October with
virtually no moonlight and had to cross slightly hilly terrain
with moderate brush cover and many gullies. We had the UTM of
the top of the gullies we were to search, GPS receivers, and a
night vision scope, which made this assignment possible. Even
at that, it took us three hours to traverse the one kilometer
to the start of the first gully. The second team had to go an
additional 0.25 kilometer to their gully. Both gullies had steep
sides and dense brush for much of their extent. In addition, Team
2s gully had two 40-foot vertical waterfalls to negotiate. Unfortunately,
Team 1 had taken the night scope, so navigating around the falls
in the dark was a bit tricky and time consuming.
Both teams completed their assignments by 0730 without finding
any sign or clues.
Our second assignment was to go back to Mark's vehicle and search
gullies to the south of the ridge. These were even steeper and
more densely vegetated, at least at the top, than the earlier
gullies. These gullies also had higher and more numerous waterfalls
than the earlier gullies. We started down about 1130 and were
picked up near the bottom by the Riverside County Sheriff's Department
helicopter at 1630. Again, neither team found any clues.
On Friday, 15 October, the two CLMRG teams got their first assignments.
Team 1 was flown in at 0800 to re-search the gully they had done
Thursday morning. Team 2 was to search a different gully down
the south side of the ridge. Team 1 actually started their search
in an adjacent gully just west of the Thursday morning gully.
At 0830, Team 1 reported a fairly recent track. A short while
later, they were able to identify it as Mark's shoe print. A little
farther along, they caught a faint scent that could have been
rotting flesh. They followed the scent until it was very strong.
This led them to the edge of a steep gully that had a significant
amount of blood splattered about. At about 0930, they heard a
low moan and looked into the bottom of the gully. There, lying
within a few feet of a dead buck, was Mark--alive!
He had a gash on the back of his head, a bruised and swollen left
eye, a left leg that he couldnt straighten, and scrapes on his
arms, and he was very dehydrated and hypothermic. An air evacuation
was started. He was taken to the command post where a helicopter
from Mercy Air was waiting to take him to Loma Linda Hospital.
All field teams were returned to command post and released. CLMRG
was released at 1430 and arrived at the rescue hut at 1830.
NOTES:
1. The night vision scope was very helpful in the cross-country
travel to get to the top of our assigned gullies. However, the
traverse could have been done in a little more time with just
GPS, map, and headlamps.
2. This area had very poor anchors for rappelling down the waterfalls,
so we had to find alternate ways around any significant falls
we came across.
3. After Mark was found in critical condition, command post imposed
strict radio silence on all teams except those directly involved
with the evacuation. This was a good idea.
4. Steve Florian made a good call when initially approaching Mark.
He asked the whereabouts of Mark's gun so that he didnt also become
a victim of a possibly incoherent or irrational person.
5. I learned from a television news report Friday night that Mark
was in critical, but stable, condition. He had a fractured skull,
fractured pelvis, and broken arm along with the many cuts and
scrapes. Mark was lucky to still be alive.Editor: The next paragraph is follow-up information dated 8
Nov 99 from the MRA web site address http://www.mra.org/vasquez.html
as reported by Steve Bryant of RMRU.The latest information I have on Mark is: Mark is at home
now. He had kidney problems, a skull fracture with subdural hematoma,
and a hip fracture. The kidney problems have apparently resolved,
the hematoma is being left to its own devices, and he had a partial
hip replacement (head of femur).

OPERATIONS REDUX

Mike Myers

This message just arrived from the Mono County Sheriff's SAR Team
regarding the search for Melvin Butterfield in the Bridgeport
area in June. For those who did not go on this operation, Butterfield
was never located. Editor: Refer to The Talus Pile Number
109, Operation 99-04, 27 Jun 99.

Dear Mr. Myers:
I apologize for the delay in getting this thank you to the China
Lake Mountain Rescue Group for helping in the search for Mervin
Butterfield in late June. Our Team is very grateful for your team
providing volunteers in the search for Mr. Butterfield. As you
can appreciate, our Team resources were stretched very thin with
the significant area to cover and the number of days involved.
The resources your volunteers provided was greatly appreciated.
Please pass this thank you on to your members.
Sadly, this past Friday, hikers located the partial remains of
an individual while hiking in the Blacksmith Creek area southwest
of Twin Lakes. Saturday morning members of the SAR Team, along
with Mono County Sheriff's personnel, hiked to the site to recover
the remains. Based on evidence at the scene (clothing, jewelry,
ID cards, etc.), the Sheriff's department has made a tentative
determination (pending a dental records check) that the remains
belong to Mr. Butterfield. His location was UTM 0290592 4223997.
We were unable to locate the towel and shaving kit he had with
him when he was last seen. Also, no determination could be made
of the location where Mr. Butterfield died as his remains were
scattered over a wide, wooded area filled with dense brush and
downed trees. It is also doubtful that the cause and date of death
will ever be known due to the lack of physical evidence.
Again, thank you for your team's assistance in this matter. If
you or any of your team members have any questions regarding this,
please feel free to call me.

Sincerely,

William L. Greene, Secretary

ACTIVITIES

Bob Rockwell

Tom Roseman, Walter Runkle, Curtis Davis, Mike Myers, Tom Sakai,
and I went to Mt. Whitney today, Nov 4, to test our times on the
Whitney Trail. Actually, I didn't push myself because I already
had a pretty good time (for me) last month. Good thing, too--look
at these figures! Tom Roseman, especially, is a tiger! (I've noted
the times for John O'Conner, Dave Doerr, and myself to give the
complete list so far.)

So eight people have tried this. Hopefully, everyone who is a
field member will give it a go. Remember that 6:00 is a good target
to strive for on the Qualification Checksheet if you are a field
member. But participation is the main thing, just like with the
50- pound packs on B Mountain.
The best time by a group member in the past that I know about
is Terry Moores 3:11 in September 1979. The same day, Bob Westbrook
and Dennis Burge did 3:40. But that was a long time ago, and the
trail was better then.
Daylight hours are dwindling now, but there is still a chance
to join the list this year.

O, let us always have
a mountain within our soul, with a peak so high that we never
quite reach the top . . . for then we will always strive for greater
things and will not be content with merely climbing hills.

Ardath Rodale

DONATIONS
Steve Florian

CLMRG gratefully acknowledges recent gifts
from the following friends: